Deshmukh condition 'stable', says family

The condition of Union Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, undergoing treatment for serious liver ailment at a hospital in Chennai, was stated to be stable on Friday.

While hospital and family sources remained tight-lipped, several political leaders who visited the hospital quoted Deshmukh's family members as saying his condition was table.

Former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan, Union Ministers M K Alagiri and D Napoleon and senior Dravida Munettra Kazhagam leader T R Baalu visited the hospital and enquired about the health of the 67-year old Science and Technology Minister, admitted to the Global Hospitals on August 6.

Deshmukh, admitted to the hospital in critical condition, was improving, according to Chavan. Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala was among those who visited the hospital on Friday.

The former Maharashtra chief minister was brought here in an air ambulance for a possible liver transplant but the doctors have made it clear that his condition has to improve before any decision could be taken on such a course